Most Important
by Obsidian Buterfly
Summary: 4 years after Saya's death Train is now a solo sweeper. One fateful day his paths cross Sven & Eve's only to have her abducted right before their eyes.Now he must give up something he values most & team up with a group of dimension travelers to save Eve.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** hey everybody. i'm just posting this fic under the black cat category as well since i thought people might like this croos over. This fic is set in the timeline of events taking place around chapter 180 of the Tsubasa manga and four years after the events of BLACK CAT. don't forget to review at the end since i really want to know what you readers think.

Here goes…no wait I totally forgot. I'm still missing a couple of things.

**1 WARNING: may contain spoilers so read at own risk!**

**2 DISCLAIMER: okay so erm here goes.**

**I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this fic (sob sob…) everything here either belongs to CLAMP or SHONEN JUMP (but I sure wish I did. sigh)**

**I guess that's about it. So start reading what I wrote already…**

'Aren't the soul and this body enough?' asked a young man dressed in black, a strange crest in the shape of a bat across his shoulder. He wore small spectacles supported on his nose. The speaker looked at his master with a surprised look on his face. The master was a tall man with a cleft chin and he wore an eye piece on his right eye. Beside him was an unmoving body of a young girl. Her brown hair fell about her face and hid her closed eyes.

'no,' replied the master looking at the unconscious girl on the floor briefly, he sat on a high throne in front of a dark banner, carrying a bat shaped crest not very unlike the one on the young man's shoulder. 'In order to achieve that power I still need an object.'

The young man look even more puzzled. He had retrieved the final piece, _the body engraved with the map of the dimensions._ What else could it be that his master still required?

'I want you and the clone to go and retrieve some more artifacts.' He said quietly, 'one is a creation like no other; something that surpasses even my own...' He said in the same quiet flat tone looking past his servant. The man turned back to look at what his master was watching. His gaze fell upon a young boy, around fourteen, with cold emotionless and mismatched eyes (one was hazel while the other was blue as ice). His clothes were bloody and his face devoid of expression, he simply stood there in silence as the master spoke once more.

'_I want you two to get me that weapon.'_

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He woke up with a start, cold sweat making his shirt cling to his body. The room was still dark but moonlight filtered in through the gap in the curtains. Breathing heavily he ran a hand through his sweaty hair and sat up. The same nightmare, over and over again. He had thought that after four years he would have gotten over her death by now.

He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of milk. Removing the lid from the top he walked out to the roof of his recently rented flat. Taking a swig from the bottle he sat down and stared at the moon. Memories from his past flooded over him.

_They had met on a moonlit night like this, four years ago. Although she had been murdered soon afterwards; meeting her had changed him forever._

_She had said that they had been similar in a way __**"we both like rooftops."**__ Even though he had always been distant to everyone, letting no one in on his life, she had been the first to break the barrier he had made. She had been his first ever true friend; the one who had taught him the meaning of freedom. The one who had helped him escape from the prison that was "Chronos". She had also been the one who had taught him the proper use of "Hades." his orichalcum made gun engraved with the symbol of bad luck, the Roman numeral XIII. The perfect number for the harbinger of bad-luck, the black cat. That had been his sole identity while he had worked for Chronos but after he met her he began to question his beliefs about the right and wrong and soon afterwards he left them for good. The remaining numbers tried to bring him back; they tired to talk some sense (according to them) into him but all that was futile. He had made up his mind._

_**He would never kill again.**_

He felt something rub against his leg. _"Meow." _Looking down he saw a white cat rubbing its face against his leg, looking up expectantly at the bottle of milk in his hand.

'So you've come back, huh?' he said looking at the cat.

"_Meow?" _

'Guess I have no other choice then.' He sighed as he got up and pulled out a small saucer from beneath the bench he was sitting on.

"_So you do like cats." _A voice echoed distantly in his mind as he poured milk into the saucer. The cat began lapping it up happily.

Sighing to himself he put the bottle down and walked to the very edge of the roof. A gentle warm breeze played about his face, making the lights of the vast city that expanded before him shimmer slightly.

_He had been the youngest person ever to be taken into the Chronos numbers. An elite group of assassins and he had been the jewel in their crown; he had always been cold and ruthless when he was doing his job. No exceptions because none lived to tell the tale after being targeted by him._

_That is until he met her. _

"_A gun is a tool to kill people." His own irritated voice echoed in his mind._

"_It's just how you use it." Her laughter tinkled once more in reply. _

_Just as he had been an assassin, she had been a sweeper, a very successful one too, but she always brought her catch in alive. He himself had witnessed one such incident in which she had single handedly arrested a homicidal maniac, who by the way could corrode anything he touched and had already killed nineteen women._

"_Meow."_ The cat rubbed its nose against his leg and took off.

'Well, I guess that's it for tonight.' He said to himself as he picked up the bottle and walked back inside.

Next morning he was awoken by the constant ringing of his cell-phone. He groped around for it on his side table, without even bothering to lift his head.

'Hello?' he spoke into the pillow.

'KURO-SAMA' came a high pitched excited reply from the mobile.

'Kyoko?' he gasped, fully awake all of a sudden, hurrying up into a sitting position.

'That's right.' The girl replied happily. 'I was just getting soo bored and then I remembered that I hadn't talked to Kuro-sama in a long while,' she said moodily, 'so' her voice became bright all of a sudden, 'I decided I should call him and say hello.'

'But you just called yesterday,' he blustered out in frustration.

'I know.' She chirped, 'it's been sooo long since then.' She laid special emphasis on "so"

'Right,' he replied checking his watch, which lay on his side table, for the time.

"Only 7:15" he sighed.

'Listen Kyoko.' He said quickly before the girl started ranting on about something, 'aren't you late for school?'

"Please be." He thought hopefully.

'Ah. Oh my gosh!' she exclaimed.

"Yes!" he thought happily.

'Kuro-sama you're right.' She said quickly, 'I'm gonna be late! But I guess that was worth it.' She added thoughtfully, 'after all I got to talk to my Kuro-sama.'

'Oh no.' she said quickly in mortified tones, 'did I say my?' she asked, 'I guess I did.' She giggled before he could reply, 'but then maybe it's okay for me to say so.' She continued happily while giggling, 'after all…' she paused and then screamed.

'_Kyoko_?' he asked worriedly.

'Oh my gosh.' She screamed, 'ohmygosh. Ohmygosh. ohmygosh.' she repeated again and again. "I'm late." She finally announced, 'sorry Kuro-sama, I have to go, I'll call you again once I get to school.' She promised, 'okay bye.'

He shook his head as he put back his cell on the side table and headed off for the bath room.

He had met Kyoko six months after leaving Chronos.

"_**Six months after her death."**__ A voice said in his mind, he pushed it away but pushing things away didn't turn them into bad dreams. It was true because Saya had died long before he had decided to become a sweeper himself. In fact he had chosen this particular line of profession in her memory. Kyoko had been obsessed with him ever since he had single handedly saved her from a dozen or so thugs, who had tried to do things their way with her. But that too had been three and a half years ago. She should have gotten over him by now._

_Yet for some reason she called him, religiously, everyday. He had even run into her a lot of times. And personally he thought he didn't mind that if it wasn't for the fact that every single time they did she would scream her two favorite words._

"_**KURO-SAMA"**__ and launch herself on top of him, just so she could kiss him…. but his ever ready white kitty would save him from that….erm… awkward greeting?_

"why in the world did I tell her that?" he cursed a little annoyed whenever she did that, because after he had saved her, she had wanted to know his name. Not wanting to give his real name away he had told her indifferently, "black cat." And that was when she had given him the name "Kuro-sama".

'Maybe I would have been better off if I had told her my real name.' he mused as he walked out of his flat and into the bright summer sunshine. He had come to this city looking for a new target, since that was what sweepers (bounty hunters, a very respectable profession) did, although he still had enough amount of money still left from his previous catch.

He headed down the road towards the one place where he knew he would find what he was looking for. The bell jingled overhead as the door closed behind him.

'Yo train,' called a tall woman with short golden hair held back by a black hair band, 'long time no see?' she said as she wiped a glass with a small rag. She was heavy built in stature and had a don't-mess-with-me look on her face, that had always been there so nothing new about that. She wore a plain white apron on top of her green full sleeved shirt. She was almost twice his age.

'Hello Annette.' Train replied as he sat down on the chair in front of the counter. The bar was full as usual with all sorts of sweepers. 'I've been busy in Pamilion for a while.'

'I see.' She said putting the glass down, 'so I guess it's gonna be the usual for you?' she said.

Train nodded looking towards the notice board, where several wanted posters were attached.

'There aren't many new guys up there.' Annette said as she came back to the counter with a plate heaped with fried bread crusts and a bottle of milk,

'Just one guy named "Tamashi Dram",' Train said as he pulled off the wanted poster of the man in question and headed back to the counter. It man had a reward of 150,000 grand on his head.

'yeah,' Annette nodded, 'wanted for murdering young girls, apparently by stabbing them in the heart,' she said as train looked at the unusual (for us) breakfast. 'To tell you the truth though,' she said in a bit lowered voice as Train started to eat, 'he actually ripped them out of those poor soles while they were still alive. And after that he uses his sword to cut them up. '

Train ate in silence without replying. _She had been killed in the same way by his partner (a fellow Chronos eraser, who had been obsessed with him because of his skill as an assassin, he had wanted Train to join him in his quest… but that is another story.) the man in question, whom Train had thought responsible for her death all along, in the end turned out to be brainwashed by some other nameless mastermind. That mastermind had been the real culprit but even though he had searched for him high and low, Train never found where he vanished._

'Heard from Sven or Eve lately?' she asked eyeing him closely, as he came out of his reverie.

'I ran into them a couple of years ago but haven't heard from them ever since.' Train said as he removed the lid from the bottle of his favorite drink, milk.

'Last I heard they were in Peshwi,' Annette said as she watched him drain the bottle off in a single gulp.

'And what about Rins?' he asked as he put the bottle down and got up to leave.

'She and Jenos got engaged last month.' Annette informed him. 'They are on vacation somewhere.'

'Right.' He nodded in reply. _Sven and Eve had been almost like a family for him. where Eve had been his little sister, Sven had played the role of his guardian (in a way, since Train had really strained, the poor ex-detective's and a starving sweeper's, already meager income to its limits while he had been with them; but that had been just to annoy him.) Rins, a famous female thief, had employed them for a while back then and Jenos, also a Chronos number (number VII) had also joined forces with them for a while._

'Oh and Train.' Annette said as he started towards the exit.

'Yeah?' he stopped.

'While in Kashmir,' she said, 'be sure you pay a visit to Yuuko.'

'Yuuko?' he whirled around.

'Yeah.' Annette nodded, 'she asked me to pass this on to you.'

_He had met that woman a few of times, long black hair and a small yet delicate face. She had an aura of some strange power about her. Kyoko had said that she owned a shop of some sort but every time she took him there all Train could ever see was…_

_Well nothing more than an empty plot where her shop was supposed to be… yup that's right... a stinking empty plot! _

'_It's okay if Kuro-sama can't see her shop,' Kyoko had said when he had told her that it was just a plot; 'the shop is visible to only those who really need it.'_

_He had looked at her inquisitively and then just shrugged as she started giggling and Yuuko appeared at the fence all of a sudden. How she had gotten there so fast, escaped Train but for some reason he never bothered. He had seen weird stuff before._

He walked out of the bar and looked down the empty street. (It was noon and people preferred to stay indoors at that time of the day during summer).

'Alright.' He said to himself, 'then I'm off to Kashmir.' He said as he started walking towards his rented flat to collect his stuff. He would get there till evening.

Why Kashmir you might ask? Well that is where, Annette had said Tamashi was.

"_Finding him might not be a very big problem."_ He thought as he opened the door to his flat. After all he had spent quite some time in that place and he knew of all the likely places where crooks might hide.

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**A/N: phew. This sure was long but I wrote it in less than two hours…anyways reviews would be extremely welcome. Tell me where I messed up or what more I could have done (or vice versa). By the way the Tsubasa group makes an entry in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: hey everyone. Here is the second chapter of this crossover. I hope you like it. If you find something too confusing or not explained properly do let me know. I'll try to correct that.**

**Now go ahead and enjoy. And don't forget to review.**

A gentle breeze was blowing and the Sakura petals flew past the people assembled in the ground. A small white rabbit like creature was perched on the shoulder of a lean statured man; he had blond hair and his right eye startlingly golden while his left eye was hidden behind a black cloth. To the left of this man stood another man, he was taller than the first and also bulkier. This guy's eyes were crimson and his left arm appeared to be made of some thing artificial…it wasn't even covered with skin!

Apart from these two guys and the rabbit like creature there was a young boy, his chocolate hair fell into his hazel eyes. His clothes were torn from several places and he was bleeding. (This was because of a recent battle he had fought). The other people in the ground (which itself looked like a battered battlefield) included the current empress of Japan, her younger sister (a miko), their guards and two treasure hunters.

The rabbit like creature jumped off from the shoulder of the blond and jumped into the arms of the chocolate haired boy.

'Syaoran,' it said, 'it's Yuuko.' With that the jewel on its head glowed and an image of a raven haired woman with delicate features was projected into the air.

'Do you know where he took her?' the boy called Syaoran said as soon as the hologram was visible completely.

'Yes,' the woman, Yuuko, nodded.

'Then tell me.' Syaoran said impatiently.

'Even if I were to tell you,' Yuuko said seriously, 'what of the other two?' she said looking at the two men (the golden haired mage and the crimson eyed ninja) who stood behind him.

'I'll go.' The ninja replied decisively.

'I will go.' Said the mage.

'Very well.' Yuuko replied, 'Sakura's body is in Clow country,' she said, 'in a cut off time.' She added as Syaoran opened his mouth to say something. 'But you won't be able to enter that place for some time.'

'Why not?' Syaoran asked.

'Because the chance to enter into cut off time will come only once,' Yuuko replied, 'and that won't be for quite a while.'

'But by the time we might get there…' Syaoran said, 'he might have already gotten his wish.'

'Fei Wang Reed still requires a few things before he can turn his dream into a reality.' Yuuko said knowingly.

'A few more things?' repeated the magician.

'What more could he need?' asked the ninja with an incredulous look on his face. 'Isn't the soul and the body all that is required?'

'Fortunately and unfortunately,' Yuuko said gravely, 'those two are not enough.'

'So what are we supposed to do until we can get into Clow?' said the white rabbit like thing.

'Since not all of Sakura's feathers have been retrieved till now,' Yuuko said, 'you may continue crossing dimensions to collect the remaining feathers.'

'Or?' asked the ninja.

'Or you may wait here until the time comes.' Yuuko replied. 'That decision is up to you.'

Syaoran turned to his companions, 'Fay-san. Kurogane-san…' He started but Yuuko interrupted him.

'Keep in mind that should you choose to keep traveling,' she said, 'you might be able to stop the Fei Wang reed from obtaining the last piece required to fulfill his wish.'

'Well kid.' Kurogane said as his gaze shifted from Syaoran to the mage, 'I don't know about you but I think the witch just made our decision for us.'

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The sun was getting ready to set as the western sky turned a beautiful shade of orange, pink and purple. It had been three hours since he had arrived in Kashmir; Train had been asking questions around the city ever since he had gotten there. He didn't even stop for lunch. Even now as he walked in the neglected and run-down part of the city, a place where crooks were likely to be found, his stomach growled in protest.(actually it screamed in protest would be better since Train had one heck of an appetite.)

'I guess I'll just grab some milk,' he said as he headed towards the nearest shop.

'Hey there,' he said cheerfully as he entered the smelly and dusty shop.

'A kid like you shouldn't be in these parts of town.' A solemn voice came from the counter. The owner of the voice was an old man, Train noticed as his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness inside the shop.

'And why would that be?' Train asked innocently as he walked up to the man.

'That Tamashi is one heck ov a twisted crook.' The old man said, almost to himself.

'So Tamashi is around these parts huh?' Train asked indifferently.

'You bet your life he is.' The old man said getting hyper all of a sudden, 'came in here yesterday and took away all the stuff he wanted.' He said looking straight at him, 'Threatened to kill me well I asked for payment.'

'Sooo you know where he might be hiding?' Train asked looking around the shop to see if he could spot any milk.

'Everyone around here knows where he might be.' The old man replied, 'he is at the abandoned construction site, that's where he is.' He said as he got out from behind the counter, 'Anyways what I can get for you sonny?' he asked as he advanced towards Train.

'Two bottles of milk.' Train replied as he spotted his favorite drink right behind the place where the man was sitting.

'Maybe I should have bought two more,' Train said to himself, as the milk disappeared sooner than he expected. He threw the empty bottle away and walked on towards the old construction site.

Up ahead he could hear a lot of commotion. Some sort of fight was going on. He hurried towards the place from where the noise seemed to be coming. By now Train could hear large hammers striking the metal and earth.

"_Could it be?"_ he wondered thinking about the one person who could make such a noise. Soon enough he heard someone yell **"**_**Gentleman's kick."**_

His heart jolted as he heard the familiar voice. He had heard it way to often when he had been with Sven and Eve.

'You two freaks aren't gonna take me.' Shouted another man.

'I'm no freak.' Came a familiar angry yell, 'I. AM. A. GENTLEMAN.'

"Well what do ya know?" Train smiled to him as he jumped over the fence and hurried into the construction site.

Before his eyes were three people, a man with green hair wearing a suit and holding a briefcase, a girl in her early teens, probably fourteen, with golden hair that reached a little above her waist (although right now the ends were turned in big metal mallets) she was aiming at the second man who wore a bloody shirt and had a long sword in his hand. He kicked the guy in the suit and sent him sprawling in the dirt.

'Sven!' the girl cried out as the man fell.

'Do you have any idea how much it COSTS TO GET THIS SUIT DRY CLEANED?' the guy in the suit yelled angrily as he got to his feet. 'Now_ I'm gonna catch you for sure you bastard.'_ He yelled angrily.

The guy with the sword rushed towards the girl who was currently looking at the man who was yelling.

'Eve watch out.' The guy in the suit shouted to the girl, Tamashi was right behind her now and she was caught off guard. Or so Tamashi thought, for one second the girl had been right in front of him and then out of nowhere a metal shield appeared in front of her to protect her from his sword.

'HOW. . ATTACK. A. GIRL. LIKE. THAT.' The guy in the suit yelled while kicking him with each word but Tamashi caught his leg and sent him flying into the wall which crumbled on top of him as he hit it, covering him under a pile of rubble. Just when he thought he had gotten rid of the joker in the suit…

WHAM!!!

Something hit him on his side making him fly 10 feet in the air before falling in the dirt on his face.

'Why you little…' he started angrily as he got to his feet, looking at Eve (her hair still shaped like mallets) but was knocked down again immediately.

'Sven!' Eve cried as she ran towards the rubble. Her hair quickly morphed from mallets into giant hands which quickly began to displace the rubble. After she had shifted aside quarter of that pile of rubble covering the green haired sweeper, she heard a moan. She began to work even more quickly.

"The weight must be crushing him." she thought. But since she was busy trying to dig out her foster father there was no way for her to be aware of the danger slowly making its way towards her. Tamashi was fuming as he drew back his sword.

"So this little chick thought she could knock me down huh?" he thought as he prepared to thrust the sword right through her heart. "She'll find out soon enough that nothing….AAAAAAAHH!!!" he cried out as a sharp pain shot up his arm, making him drop his sword. Eve turned just in time to witness this and using her giant hand (morphed hair) she threw this guy into the wall behind her.

'Oye princess.' Train called out as he advanced towards the girl and a very shaky Sven, 'looks like I finished this guy for you too, huh?' he grinned (very much like a cat) as he put his gun back in its holder.

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	3. Chapter 3

'Ah.' Train said in a very satisfied way as he walked out of the diner with Sven and Eve, 'there is nothing more enjoyable than a cool bottle of milk after dinner.'

'Even after four years,' Sven said looking at his old partner, 'you haven't changed one bit, Train.'

'I'll say.' Eve said with a smirk.

'Yeah and it's a good thing too, you know.' Train said in a matter-of-factly way, 'if I had changed princess,' he said looking at the teenager, 'who would have finished off Tamashi for you?'

'You didn't do anything,' Eve said simply, 'I was the one who knocked him out.'

'But I was the one who shot the sword out of his hand.' Train replied with a cat-like grin playing across his face.

'I could have done that too,' Eve replied crossing her arms and looking the other way.

They were walking in the commercial area of the city right now, and even though it was almost twelve at night, the place was still full of life.

'So where are you planning to stay?" Sven asked as they walked on.

'I haven't really thou…' Train stopped in mid-sentence as he heard sounds of screaming a little way ahead. He turned to look at his friends quizzically.

'Wonder what's happening?' Sven said as he threw the cigarette, he had been smoking, away.

'I'm going to check it out.' Eve said as she ran towards the place of commotion.

'Oye princess!' Train called out as he ran after her, 'wait up.'

'Hey Train. Eve.' Sven shouted as he adjusted his hat and followed the duo.

"Ohhh…. those two" he thought angrily as he ran but smiled as he remembered that they always did that. "Just like old times."

They turned a corner and reached the square, people were running around trying to escape something. They soon enough found out what that something was. Men wearing strange black clothes with a bat-like symbol on their chests were attacking the shoppers and other teenagers who hung out late at night. The weapons they carried were also strange like their appearances. Train in all his years of working as an assassin and later on as a sweeper had never seen anything like them. If he didn't know better he would have thought that these men were from another world.

'Nonsense.' Train said as this thought crossed his mind.

'Hey kid watch out.' He heard Sven shout, turning around he saw young girl, all scared and crying and she was heading straight for one of those attackers. He grabbed the girl seconds before the black attacker swung his strange claw like weapon, it hit the place where the little girl had been moments before and the ground was cratered at that spot. Sven kicked the attacker out of his way as Train carried the girl to safety. After he had handed the little girl to her anxious mother he hurried back to the square where his partners were still busy fighting the strangers.

Sven was busy knocking down those bat-guys while Eve helped escort the people to safety. Quickly grabbing his Hades Train joined Sven. Even though Train shot them, the strange men just kept getting up to fight again.

'What the hell?' Train yelled in frustration as he shot yet another man.

'It's like they just can't feel the pain.' Sven exclaimed as he blocked the claw lie thing from hitting him with his brief case. (Sven's preferred weapon as it had a lot of storage capacity for almost any weapon or gadget.)

Eve was busy fighting a boy, also dressed like the rest of the men, although he wielded a sword rather than the claw-like thing. He dodged her each and every attack as she hit him with her transformed hair (mallets). Finally she was forced to transform her hands into long blades which enabled her to fight more efficiently. All this happened in a very short span of time but while he had been observing Eve and the boy fight, Train had let his own guard down.

He swore as a claw narrowly missed him but soon his cocky grin was back in place as he fought, trying to figure out a weakness. Finally he figured that injuring the bastards was no good.

'I think we have to kill them if we want to stop them.' Sven shouted as he pushed a small button his case and a gun nozzle popped out of its side.

'Yeah.' Train nodded as he took aim and fired. And sure enough as soon as his bullet hit its target, he fell to the ground in a heap. 'Guess I have no choice left.' Train thought grimly as his stomach panged with guilt at the breaking of his vow.

Within minutes train and Sven managed to slay all the attackers. Only two people were still engaged in a fierce battle. Eve and that brown haired boy with his flaming sword. Eve screamed as the sword pierced her side. Train started towards her but suddenly he could not move. Looking towards Sven he noticed that he was frozen in a mid-run too.

Suddenly a slit appeared in the air before them which widened to expose a pitch black space, a bespectacled man stepped out of the void, at the same time the boy raised his hand and shining blue runes appeared from it. With a lazy flick of his hand they hit Eve (also frozen in a defensive stance). Her eyes grew wide with shock as she hit the ground.

'EVE!!!' they yelled in unison.

'WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE?' Train shouted as he struggled to make his body move. "Please just let my arm move." He prayed as he struggled to lift Hades.

'LET HER GO YOU BASTARDS…' Sven yelled angrily. 'DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER.' As the bespectacled man put an arm below Eve's neck and the other below her knees, effortlessly lifting her off the ground. he walked back towards the gaping black hole in the air. The brown haired boy followed him silently.

'GET BACK HERE.' Sven hollered. The boy turned and surveyed the two struggling men before him with a blank expression just as the other man carrying eve was swallowed by the darkness. Train noticed that apart from the cold yet vacant expression the boy had another strange characteristic. One of his eyes was ember but the other one was blue like those strange runes. A second later he turned back and then, he too, was gone.

As soon as the void disappeared Train realized that he could move again. Sven ran towards the spot where the three had vanished but nothing he did made any difference.

Train fell to his knees as the feeling of hopelessness slowly crept into his mind. She was gone. Taken from them before their very eyes. Just as they stood there helplessly and watched. They couldn't do anything to stop it. _He _couldn't do anything to stop it. It was like Saya all over again. _He couldn't save her._

'NO. NO. NO. NO!!!' Sven said, his voice getting louder every time he said it. 'Eve.'

'I failed.' Train said, his voice barely audible, but Sven heard him anyways because he turned around to look at him with his wide eye, the other his green one was once again hidden behind his black eye-patch.

'Shut up Train.' He growled.

'But I couldn't do anything.' Train said, 'they took her away.'

'I said SHUT UP' Sven said grabbing his collar and lifting him off his knees. 'We are not giving up like that.' He said in a dangerous voice, '_you_ are not giving up this way.' He growled, 'if we saved her from Eden four years ago, we can save her from those bastards now.'

"Maybe we can still save her." A small voice said in Train's head. Not looking at Sven train gave a mall nod.

'That's much better.' Sven said letting go of Train. 'Alright lets get back to Annette's place and get some info on this.' He said waving his hand towards the dead men now littering the square.

'Hmmm... So this is where Yuuko-san lives, Han?' Fay said as he looked at the tall buildings of the world they had landed in.

'Yes but not in this city, Fay.' Mokona replied.

'Is there a feather in this world Mokona?' Syaoran asked ignoring the looks that they were getting from anyone who saw them. Once again they were dressed in their travelling clothes which were not worn in this world.

'no.' Mokona replied sadly, 'but Yuuko said that there was something else that Fei Wong Reed wants. That something is in this world.'

'Alright then,' Kurogane said with a grin, 'let's make sure he doesn't get it.'

They kept on walking for a short while.

'You know Kuro-tan.' Fay said as he looked at his clothes and then at his companions' clothes, 'we really need to get some clothes of this world. We stick out a bit too much.'

'But Fay-san,' Syaoran said quickly looking at Kurogane nervously, 'to buy clothes we need money. We don't have any of that.'

'How about we just get some from the witch?' Kurogane suggested.

'Good idea Kuro-pipi.' Fay said with a wide grin.

'But we can't talk to Yuuko in this sort of crowded place.' Mokona said.

'Let's talk there.' Kurogane said pointing towards an alley and then walking off towards it without waiting for a response.

The others followed.

'I can't give you money.' Yuuko said simply, 'you will have to earn it. But,' she continued, 'I can help find a way to earn it.'

'you three are right now in a city called Lawor.' She said, 'try getting jobs as sweepers.'

Seeing the vacant expressions on their faces she said, 'as bounty hunters. Ask someone to direct you to Annette's bar. Tell her I sent you. She will help you out with everything else.' With that the hologram flickered and then vanished.

Once outside the alley they looked around. Fay flashed a dazzling smile at a girl in her late teens who giggled as she passed by.

'Erm excuse me,' Fay said. The girl stopped and walked back looking at the strangely dressed guys.

'Could you please guide us to Miss Annette's bar?' he said smiling once more.

'Sure,' the girl replied quickly, 'I can take you there myself because that is where I am going too.'

'Thank you very much.' Fay said still smiling. 'My name is Fay. This is Syaoran and this here is Kuro-sama.' He said introducing his companions.

'you're name is Kuro-sama too???' the girl asked with wide eyes.

'It's Kurogane.' Kurogane grunted angrily. 'I've told you not to call me that, stupid mage.' He said glaring at Fay. The girl looked at the three of them with interest but then her eyes fell on Kurogane's sword.

'Why do you keep a sword with you?' she asked but before they could respond she said brightly, 'oh I get it, you guys are sweepers too. My name is Kyoko.' She said bowing her head. 'Pleased to meet you Fay-san, Kurogane-san and Syaoran-kun.'

She started walking. 'Annette's bar is just around the next corner.' She said as they followed her.

'I hope Kuro-sama is there.' She said hopefully. 'He should be back by now.' She said more to herself than them.

'Kuro-sama?' Syaoran blinked in surprise. Did this mean there was a Kurogane double ion this world? But this girl certainly didn't act surprised at seeing this Kurogane.

'He is the best sweeper there is.' She told them happily,' he used to be a deadly assassin but he retired and took up sweeping.'

They turned a corner and found themselves outside the door of a very normal looking shop.

'Hello Annette-san, is Kuro-sama back yet?' Kyoko said cheerfully as they entered the shop. 'He hasn't even answered my calls. I wonder why he didn't. That's very unlike him, don't you think so?' she added without waiting for a reply.

'Hello Kyoko.' Replied a woman with a serious and worried tone. 'I see you have friends with you.' She said looking at the strangely dressed travelers with tired eyes.

'Hai.' Kyoko said brightly as they walked into the shop, 'these are Fay-san, Kurogane-san and Syaoran-kun.' She said introducing the three. 'They are also sweepers.'

'Sweepers, huh?' Annette said with a raised brow.

'Yuuko-san told us to come see you.' Syaoran said quickly.

'Oh. So you were the three she was talking about.' She said uninterestedly. 'Have a seat and I'll be there shortly to see what I can do.' The three of them did as they were told, feeling the eyes of the other sweepers follow them as they did. They took a table near the window that looked out into the street but they could hear the conversation going on between the Kyoko and Annette.

'Train and Sven came back early in the morning.' She said to Kyoko returning her gaze back to the strange white machine on the counter where she was working. Her hands were flying on top of a rectangular board with many buttons on it. Syaoran had seen similar machines in piffle world through his other self. They were called computers.

Kyoko was looking around hopefully.

'You won't find him here.' Annette said not looking up, 'they went out early in the morning. Eve has been kidnapped and they are both very worried. They are out there looking for the kidnappers.'

'Whaat???' Kyoko said going chibi. 'Eve-chan has been kidnapped? By who? Is it doctor-san again?'

'Train says a guy with glasses and a kid with mismatched eyes kidnapped her.' she said. This caught Syaoran's attention, who had been looking. He turned to see that his companions had noticed too.

'Do you think…?' Mokona started but Syaoran put a hand on its mouth. 'Not now.' He said as the others nodded. They had to meet this Train and Sven.

'They killed their accomplices,' Annette was saying, 'but then this gate opened up and the man stepped out. Train and Sven couldn't move after that and they took her away.'

'Excuse me, Annette-san.' Fay said as he got up and walked over to her.


	4. Chapter 4

After talking with Annette the gang had decided that the best way to search for the sweepers was if they split up. Kyoko had been more than eager to help. She showed them several photos of a guy (in each one he looked quite reluctant to be the centre of Kyoko's crazy obsession). He had brown spiky hair and golden eyes, much like one of Fay's eyes. The one he now kept covered by the black cloth.

Back in Nihon, while fighting with the clone, Syaoran had managed to copy Fay's stolen eye. So the resultant was that Fay had gotten his stolen magic back - in a way – and now he was part vampire part magician. Meaning Kurogane no longer needed to be his prey. This was, in a way, good news because now that Ashura was out of the way and Fay had come to terms with his past, Fay's magic was a thing in their favor as he no longer refused from using it.

Kurogane ended up with Mokona as he could not speak the language of this world. Fay, with his magic, on the other hand had no such problem but Kyoko insisted on accompanying him anyways. Syaoran could speak the language fairly well (he had learned through his other self while he journeyed to various countries with his father.) Annette had lent them all some money and clothes so that they no longer stuck out of the general crowd. They had agreed to meet back at the bar in the evening if they had no success in finding the Black Cat till then because sooner or later he was going to turn up there.

Syaoran wandered through the busy commercial area looking around for any signs of a green haired Sven Volfied or the spiky haired, Train Heartnet. No one paid any attention to the roving teenager but as soon as he turned a corner Syaoran found himself staring at the nozzle of a very dangerous looking gun. It had a strange XIII marking engraved on its side; it was a roman numeral Syaoran remembered, the number thirteen. Looking up he saw himself staring into ferocious golden catlike eyes, the man before him had a similar symbol tattooed on his left collarbone.

'Where is princess?' he asked fiercely through clenched teeth.

"Princess?' Syaoran stared at him blankly. "He thinks I'm my other self." The realization struck him.

'I won't ask again.' Train said, 'where did you take her?'

'You've got it all wrong.' Syaoran said quickly, 'I'm not the one who kidnapped the girl.'

'Oh yeah? So tell me was it some sort of clone who appeared last night?' Train growled as he cocked his gun.

Syaoran quickly glanced around. For a commercial area this corner sure was empty. Not one living soul in sight anywhere. He quickly clapped his hands to summon his sword because the man before him was not in mood of listening. Syaoran had to get back to the bar as soon as possible. Maybe Annette would still be there to vouch for him. As soon as he saw the sword emerge from the teen's hand, Train shot three bullets in quick succession. Syaoran dodged the first and deflected the other two using his sword.

'You have to listen,' Syaoran said, 'I'm not who you're looking for.'

'Like hell I'll listen to you.' Train yelled as he shot more bullets.

'Fuuka Shourai!' Syaoran yelled summoning a wind barrier to protect him from the oncoming bullets.

'KURO-SAMAAAAA WAIT!' Kyoko yelled as she ran towards the place where Train was busy shooting at the dimension travelling teen.

'Stay back Kyoko.' Train said urgently, fearing for her safety as he fired another bullet. 'Don't come here. It's not safe.'

'How about I help out Kyoko-chan?' an unfamiliar male voice spoke pleasantly. Train turned around to see a tall blond in denim jeans and a white shirt with a high collared long coat which looked a lot like the one Train used to wear during his eraser days. The blond raised his right hand and blue runes appeared in the air before him. He flicked his hand in Train's direction; the runes followed the movement of his hand forming some sort of blue colored barrier between the two fighters.

'What the…?' Train's eyes widened in surprise before they narrowed in anger as he shot at the blue shield now surrounding him. The bullets collided with the magical barrier and fell down harmlessly.

'Kuro-sama please stop!' Kyoko said waving her arms frantically, 'Syaoran-kun did not kidnap Eve-chan.'

'What are you… wait… how do you know Eve got kidnapped?' Train asked looking at the brown haired girl suspiciously. He had not told anyone else about Eve except for Annette.

'Annette-san told me when I went to the bar in the morning.' Kyoko replied.

'Kyoko this kid is the one who took her away.' Train said looking at the teenager with loathing eyes.

'Actually Train-kun,' the blond man smiled widely, 'it was his clone that kidnapped your friend.'

'Hai.' Kyoko nodded quickly, 'Yuuko-san said the same thing.'

'Yuuko? That weird friend of yours?' Train asked. 'When did you tell her?'

'I grew worried about Eve-chan too so I asked her for help.' Kyoko said looking at her feet, 'she said that the kidnappers have taken Eve-chan to another dimension.'

'Another dimension? Kyoko there _are_ no other dimensions.' Train said in exasperation as he kicked the blue shield, immediately regretting his decision.

'If you put your gun away,' the blond said, still smiling, 'and promise not to attack us until we can explain the situation to you, I can let you out.'

Train looked him over with distrust before lowering his gun and placing it back in its holder. The blond grinned even more widely, if that was even possible and wrote something in the air once more, immediately the blue shield vanished. Train looked over at the teenager; his sword was disappearing into his hand.

'Who the heck are you guys?' Train said in frustration.

'Please come back to Annette-san's with us, Train-san.' The teenager said quietly. 'We'll explain everything over there.'

Okay so both these weirdoes knew his name; not that Train was surprised about it much. He was the legendary Black Cat, who wouldn't know about him? But that didn't change the fact that he still did not know who these strangers accompanying Kyoko were.

'Who are you guys?' Train asked once more as he started walking with them towards the infamous Sweeper bar.

'We are travel various dimensions using something that Yuuko-san gave us,' Fay replied, 'we will explain everything else once we get back to the bar.'


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: hay everyone. I'm back. A thank you to **__**Gaaraxluvr for your review. Don't worry I am not going to quit writing this story or any other story for that matter since I love to write even of a certain wooden block refuses to get out of my way.**_

_**To my readers, I apologize in advance for the shortness of this chapter but there is a reason for that as you will find out at the ending A/N. for now please go ahead and enjoy the story. Don't forget to leave a review.**_

The chocolate haired boy looked impassively at the blond girl as she struggled uselessly against the binding spell his master had placed on her. Her hand glowed blue before it transformed into a giant mallet. She swung her arm and hit the tank but the glass remained intact. Even after countless tries the girl was still trapped as her effort bore no fruit. She screamed in frustration as her exhausted body refused to struggle any more, slowly she slid against the glass container and slumped at the bottom. With an angry sigh she put her head in her hands.

A short while afterwards, she raised her eyes and observed her surroundings once more. Her's was not the only cylindrical prison in that room and neither was she the only captive. To her right was another young girl who happened to be unconscious at that time; her body was floating in some sort of liquid. Eve was able to tell that by the fact that the other girl's brown hair were rippling about her calm face.

'_I have got to get out of here.' _She thought as she jumped back to her feet once more. With renewed determination she transformed both her hands and her hair into mallets and started hitting the glass container once again, completely ignoring the pair of mismatched emotionless eyes observing her actions from across the room.

**************************************

Kurogane walked around the city feeling extremely annoyed. The shiruu manju had refused to hide in his jacket claiming it was far too hot for that. So he ended up carrying the thing in his arms. All the passerby's were giving him strange looks despite his intimidating appearance, which was not so intimidating anymore due to the fluffy white plushy in his arms. _What kind of ninja walked around carrying soft and cuddly plushies???_ He thought indignantly.

He had been searching for five hours straight and there was still no sign of that cat guy or the green haired guy that crazy fan-girl had told them about. This park was the last place where he was going to look. And then, Black Cat or no Black Cat, he was heading back to the bar.

'Aunty, look at the cute rabbit that scary man is holding.' A little girl, no older than six years, pointed as soon as Kurogane entered through the park gates. She had black hair and sparkling green eyes.

'It's not nice to point dear.' The purple haired woman, who was holding her hand, said as she moved her cell-phone away from her ear to look at the girl. 'Come on now, Uncle Jenos is waiting outside the park. Could you go on, I'll be there in a second.'

'Okay.' The girl said brightly as she ran past the ninja. The woman watched her disappear through the gates before turning her back to it and walking towards the centre of the park.

'Poor Sven.' She muttered as she turned and started walking towards the centre of the park. Kurogane's ears perked up at hearing that name. _'Wasn't it that green haired guys name?_' he thought as he decided to follow her. The park was almost empty by now, a few people were walking towards the exit and just a couple were jogging around the track. There were benches placed near the fountain. At first sight they were all unoccupied but upon getting a closer look Kurogane realized that a man was seated on the furthest one.

He was dressed in a light cream colored suit and a matching brimmed hat, a black eye-patch covering one of his eyes. He held an ice-cream cone in one hand and was using his other hand to feed it's biscuit to the birds with the other one. He was talking to the purple haired woman.

'Kurogane,' Mokona whispered, 'I think that is the guy Kyoko was telling us about, Black Cat's partner.'

'I think so too.' Kurogane nodded as he stuffed the magical creature into his coat pocket.

'Kuro-tan that was soo mean.' Mokona whined.

'Shut up manju, he won't take me seriously if I'm holding you in view.' Kurogane told the bunny as he started walking towards the guy, who he assumed was Sven.

'Alright, I will let you know if I find out anything.' Kurogane heard the woman say. 'I should be going now; Jenos is waiting for me outside. We still have to drop Saki at her home.'

'Sure,' the man said in a quiet tone, 'thanks for coming.'

'No problem.' The woman, Rins replied. 'Tell Train I said hi.' With that she walked past Kurogane. Said ninja waited till she was out of the gate before approaching the green haired man.

'Sven Volfied, right?' Kurogane said as he seated himself next to the dejected man.

**************************************

'So you want me to believe that you travel _dimensions _with the help of a white _rabbit _that you got from Yuuko, so you could gather some amnesiac girl's _memories_?_'_ Train repeated what he had been told by the overly cheerful blond and Mr. Way-too-serious, I-got-cloned-by-a-madman.

'That's pretty much about it.' Fay replied with a grin.

'This is total c**p.' Train said angrily as he got up from his chair in Annette's bar. 'I just wasted an entire hour for some stupid fairy-tale! I shouldn't even have bothered with you two.'

'Ah! Kuro-sama… where are you going?' Kyoko asked as she attached herself to his arm.

'I'm going to go look for Eve.' He said simply, removing the pyrotechnic from his arm.

'But but…Kuro-sama wait…' the girl wailed as number thirteen walked out the bar without another word.

_**A/N: **_(if you don't want to read the A/N just scroll down to the bottom for two important questions.)_** Pretty short I know but you can't blame me. I was very busy. I had exams and assignments and tests and whatnot. Then I had to be the responsible elder sister and help my baby bro with **_**his**_** exam preparations. After that I slipped off the ramp and busted my foot… and the endless list of excuses for not updating will continue on forever if I don't put my foot down over here. (Ouch! Maybe putting my foot down wasn't such a good idea.)**_

_**Train: are you going to keep on rambling.**_

_**Me: (trying to be offended) I was **_**not **_**rambling.**_

_**Eve: were too.**_

_**Me: was not.**_

_**Eve: were too.**_

_**Me: was not! Hey aren't you supposed to be stuck in a gigantic glass tube?**_

_**Eve: I asked the clone to let me out.**_

_**Me: (turns to C. Syaoran.) how could you Cloney? After all the trouble I went through to make it indestructible.**_

_**Cloney: it's just for this A/N.**_

_**Me: oh. Right. (Turns to you guys.) The real reason for the shortness of this chapter is that I am unable to decide between two things.**_

_**Question:**__** Should the whole group (train included) just hop the dimension to Clow to save their respective princesses or should they stay in this world for a while and try sweeping for sometime while they wait for the time to arrive? Let me know what you want me to do since I can do either of the two at the moment. You can give your opinion via review or a PM. **_

_**Another question:**__** who can guess Train's payment to Yuuko? Once again you can PM me with your answers or just leave a review. (coughcoughleavereviewcough) correct answers will receive a bucket of cyber-ice-cream of their choice. ;) **_

_**Ja ne.**_


	6. Chapter 6

'_I'm going to go look for Eve.' He said simply, removing the pyrotechnic from his arm._

'_But but…Kuro-sama wait…' the girl wailed as number thirteen walked out the bar without another word._

'Train-kun.' The ex-assassin stopped in his tracks when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

'Could you at least try and confirm our story from Yuuko-san?' the blond said before he let go and walked back inside the bar.

Train remained stock still for what seemed like an eternity but finally a flash of brown up turning around the corner of the street brought him out of his daze. He uttered one single word before taking off in the direction he had seen her go.

Train's heart was beating against his chest as he turned around the bend to come face to face with… nothing? Where did she go? He had just seen her come this way. Train spun around when he heard a quite giggle from behind him but once again there was nothing there. His eyes widened when he heard someone chuckle quietly next to his ear. Train whirled around and saw the brown haired girl disappear round the corner of the other side of the street.

'Saya?' Train whispered quietly before he ran after her. He could still hear her amused giggles. 'Hey! Saya, Wait up!'

He did not see where he was going as he blindly followed the sound of her laughter, all the while calling for her to stop. No matter how fast he ran or how much he shouted, the girl never slowed, all he ever caught of her were small glimpses as she would turn around the corners of the streets and alleys until finally he found himself facing a dead end. But she was nowhere to be seen.

'Damn it!' Train swore as he kicked the nearby dumper in frustration. He swore repeatedly as he clutched his head in his hands and slid down the wall behind him, flopping on the alley floor. His mind was playing tricks on him again. He did _not _have time for this. He had to find Eve. Now was not the time to go crazy.

'Hello Train-kun.' He heard her voice speak as someone settled on the ground next to him.

'Go away.' Train mumbled dejectedly without even raising his head to see who it was.

'Is that anyway to greet your friends?' the girl asked playfully.

'You're not real.' Train muttered.

'Now why would you think that?' she asked cheerfully.

'Because Saya is dead.' Train said as he hit his head against the wall. 'I was too late to save her.' He hit his head once more, 'I couldn't do anything for her,' the light thud sounded as his head met the wall again, 'and now,' another thud, 'Eve's gone too,' Thud, 'and I,' thud, 'can't do,' thud, 'anything,' thud, 'at all.' thud, 'I'm completely useless.'

'You know Train-kun,' the girl said in the same bright tone, 'if you keep doing that your head will crack open.'

Train stopped his actions to give the girl just one look. She looked just like her, sparkling green eyes, brown hair framing a pretty face and that ever present confident yet beautiful smile.

'You're not real.' Train said once again as he shook his head as he looked the other way.

'Repeating that won't make me go away, Train-kun.' The girl laughed.

'…'

'You're no fun,' she said, 'as usual.'

'…'

'So are you just going to keep on ignoring me?' the girl said, hurt evident in her voice. Unable to stop himself, Train looked back at the girl. She was looking down at her hands which were lying in her lap.

'You never denied my existence before now Train-kun.' She said softly as she looked up to meet his gaze. Train's eyes widened slightly as soon as gold met green, his heart had resumed its wild thumping. It couldn't be… could it? This couldn't be Saya… she had died in his own arms so then how…

'You're thinking that she died, right?' she asked with a sad smile, 'you face always did show what you thought.'

'…'

'I am not a figment of your imagination Train-kun.' She sighed softly as she looked up to see the twinkling stars. When had the sun set? 'I died…' she looked back at him, 'but I'm still real.'

'Y-you're her…' Train started in shock.

'Spirit.' She nodded.

****************************

'Dimension hopping rabbit?' Train muttered to himself as weaved through the crowd, 'Tao, Shinkitou, Eden, Trans fused with Tao, Saya's Spirit… all of that stuff is believable no matter how bizarre it may sound but… a _dimension hopping rabbit???_ Whoever heard of such a thing? I'd rather believe that the crazy blond was a vampire.'

As he walked across the city, Train replayed the conversations he had with Saya and that blond guy and brown haired kid.

_This is not the only world where humans exist… parallel dimensions if you may… was cloned…_

_Eye… turned to a vampire… lost his arm… Hime's body… stolen… Fei Wong Reed…_

_Spirit… decided to stay… help… Eve-chan…_

Train was now near some sort of commercial area.

'What part of Lawor is this place?' Train scratched his head as he looked around. He had never been to this place before. Had he gotten lost? No. that was not possible. Okay so yeah, he had been chasing after Saya's ghost like a crazed idiot but that did _not_ mean that the Black Cat would get lost just like that. Just by taking a few wrong unknown turns.

'Funny,' he thought as he looked around him some more, 'Yuuko's empty plot is also in this sort of place,' he mumbled as he walked closer to a traditional looking Japanese house amidst the tall buildings. But that was crazy, Yuuko's plot was in Kashmir, this was Lawor which was a different city altogether. Even though it was an average Japanese home, it seemed to be surrounded by some sort of strange aura.

Not really knowing why Train walked closer to the fence surrounding the house and looked inside. All of a sudden the gate creaked open and Train stumbled inside as though if someone had pushed him inside and he had no control whatsoever over his own two feet.

'What the hell?' Train said in shock as he turned around to leave before the owner saw him there.

'Welcome.' Chirped two young voices right behind him.

'Huh?' the sweeper whirled around in confusion. He was pretty sure there had been no one around when he had walked in. How come he did not sense them approaching? He wondered as he observed the girls warily, they looked no older than nine and were wearing identical creepy grins as they looked at him. One of the girls had blue hair and the other had hair that were pink in color.

'Oh, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to come in.' Train said as he decided to leave. The sooner he left those creepy girls alone the better. He had already wasted a lot of time wandering around this place. He would just call Sven to pick him up from... wherever he was.

'You can't leave now.' The girls giggled behind their hands as they stepped in his way, preventing him from leaving.

'Look, I'm kind of busy so if you don't mind I would like to leave.' Train said trying to keep his temper down. He was feeling extremely stupid now. Why had he even decided to run off like that? Sven must be worried about him as well now. Surely he would be back at Annette's by now.

'You can't leave now.' The short haired girl repeated as she took hold of his right hand.

'You have to see master first.' The other one said as she wrapped her small hand around his left one.

'Come in. come in.' both said in unison as they tugged his hands. 'Master is expecting you.'

'Huh? Hey! Wait a second… ' Train protested as he realized what was happening. The two girls were dragging him inside the house. A feat in itself since kids could not drag adults along with them; let alone trained assassins.

_They're really strong for a couple of little girls._ He thought to himself as his struggles had no effect on his little captors. That was when he remembered how deceiving looks could actually be. Eve had looked like an average twelve year old girl when he had first been assigned to finish her off yet she could have easily beaten him that first time if it hadn't been for Sven's interference. Hell, she could have even enslaved the entire world through Eden.

'Look little girls.' Train said as he finally managed to free his hand from their devilish small ones and faced them but it was not before they had dragged him inside the structure.

'Marudashi and Morudashi.' A female spoke from somewhere to his right.

The two girls moved towards the rice paper door in said direction and opened it with a small clack.

'Yuuko?' Train said skeptically as he raised his brow and walked into the room. The raven-haired woman was reclining on a low back sofa with a smoking pipe in her hand. She was wearing a really low cut dress which had a slit in its side revealing a scandalous amount of her creamy white legs.

'Hello Train.' She greeted him as she took another drag from her pipe. 'So you have finally found the shop.' She said as she exhaled, the smoke curling up around her in small wisps.

'This is your shop?' Train said as his brow rose even further.

'Yes.' Yuuko nodded, 'and you were able to enter it because you have a wish.'

'I don't think you can help me with that I wish.' Train said softly.

'Maybe. Maybe not.' Yuuko said simply, 'it all depends on how much you are willing to pay for it.'

'I'm broke.' Train said as he turned around to leave.

'You wish to save the bio-weapon girl, no?' Yuuko's words stopped him just when he was about to step out of the rice paper door.

'Kyoko put you up to this, didn't she?' Train said as he turned around to look at her suspiciously. 'Like I said earlier, you can't help me with that so I think I'll leave.'

'You won't find her in this world.' Yuuko said in the same serene tone that she had been using earlier.

'I think I'll take my chances.' Train said as he slid the door open.

'Your denial might lead to Eve's downfall.' She said once more. 'Are you sure you want her death on your hands?'

'You have carried this stupid joke far enough Yuuko.' He said coldly as he looked back at her, his pupils turning to catlike slits. 'She is _not_ going to die and when I find her those bastards will pay dearly.'

'How exactly do you intend to find her?' the witch asked with a knowing smirk, not in the least bit fazed by his suddenly intimidating appearance. 'Surely you don't think you'll be able to open a gate in space and land in whatever place they took her.'

'Echidna…'

'Echidna Paras can open gates anywhere but in this dimension alone.' Yuuko said as she rose from the recliner and sauntered up to the sweeper, 'she can't take you to other worlds.'

'And you can?' Train raised his brow.

'No. I can merely provide you with the means to do that.' the woman replied.

'By any chance, would that means happen to be a white rabbit?' Train asked skeptically.

'Mokona is not a rabbit Train.' Yuuko shook her head as she looked away, 'I suppose you've already met those three then.'

'Two.' Was Train's reply.

'Ah.' Yuuko nodded, 'there used to be four of them,' she told him with a somewhat sad gleam in her eye, 'all four of them paid with their most precious possessions in order to obtain Mokona. If you wish to save Eve, you will have to go with them.'

'And what would I have to pay for that rabbit?' the sweeper asked.

Yuuko turned back to look at him, her eyes soft and filled with sadness as she looked at something behind him.

'Saya.' She uttered softly.

_**A/N: Finally. This chapter is done. So people, how was it?**_

_**Hehehe…**_

_**What do you think, was that Train's price? Even though I haven't clearly specified what he has to give up yet, you can still take some guesses… and give me reviews. Lots and lots of reviews. And I'll try to update the next chapter faster.**_

_**Till next time, Ja. :)**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: Hi everyone.**_

_**Here's the next chapter after a really long wait.**_

_**Hope you'll find it enjoyable.**_

_**I'm sorry for the wait by the way but I have kinda forgotten what I had initially planned to do with this fic and so now I have to make up the plot as I go. Which means that if you would like me to add something in there, or if you'd like to make something happen in this story, feel free to PM me and give me your ideas. **_

_**In simple words, I've hit a block on this fic and unless I can get some idea on what I should do next… well, let's just say you guys will be in for a looooonnnng wait once again.**_

_**So don't hesitate to give me your suggestions. I might just be able to turn it into the plotline. ;) ;) (Or the next chapter at the very least.)**_

_**Oh and before I forget. REVIEW!!!**_

_**No go ahead and enjoy.**_

"_And what would I have to pay for that rabbit?" the sweeper asked._

_Yuuko turned back to look at him, her eyes soft and filled with sadness as she looked at something behind him._

"_Saya." She uttered softly._

"Saya?" Train repeated incredulously. What kind of stupid price was that? Train was just about to voice his thoughts when something soft brushed his arm from behind. Looking behind him he saw his friend's spirit standing there causing him to mentally sigh in relief. So Yuuko was just addressing her spirit, not naming his price.

Wait a second, why was he so worried about what he might have to pay? It's not like Yuuko was actually some sort of time space witch who granted wishes, was she? That was just not possible. But for some reason a small voice at the back of his mind kept telling him otherwise.

"Hello Yuuko-san." Saya smiled softly.

"You know each other?" Train asked as he looked at the two.

"We have met before." Yuuko replied as she turned around and walked back to the sofa. "Several times. Now," she said once she had seated herself. "About your price."

"Yuuko-san," Saya spoke softly before Train could answer the witch. "I'd like to pay a part of the price for his wish."

"What?" Train almost yelped, looking at her in surprise.

"You do know what that might entail?" Yuuko question solemnly.

"I do." The green-eyed spirit nodded.

"But it's my wish Saya," Train looked at his friend's ghost. "You don't have to pay anything."

"I also wish to save Eve-chan Train-kun," she replied with a soft smile. "And I believe the only way for me to get my wish is if you get yours. So I'll pay the price with you."

"But neither of us even know what it is yet." He protested.

"So why don't we ask her, hmm?" she giggled lightly before turning to the space time witch. "Yuuko-san?"

"The price for you, Train, will be Saya," she said soberly, "And for Saya, it will be the journey and then passing on."

"What?!" This time the Black Cat really did yelp. "You mean you're going to take away my memories of her, like that princess?" he asked remembering the story he had been told by those two weirdoes.

"The price of your memories of her," Yuuko repeated. "That price is what I would ask of you," she said locking her crimson eyed gaze with his, "if Saya had not offered to pay a part of it."

"So you won't take my memories?" Train sighed in relief, feeling a bit stupid that he was even considering the possibility of something like that happening.

"No," the woman before him shook her head, not breaking eye contact with him. "Instead of that, I will merely take away you ability to sense her presence."

"My ability to sense her presence?" Train repeated dumbly before it clicked.

"You will no longer be able to see, hear or feel her around you." Yuuko explained, "As for Saya, she will have to accompany you on this journey and once you are finished, she will move on."

"I-I… I will n…"

"I will pay the price."

-0-

"That idiot," Sven sighed as he emptied he drained the last of his tea. He was sitting on a stool next to the counter, observing the three foreigners out of the corner of his eye. His gaze travelled to the wall clock hanging behind the counter. It was 11:45 pm and there was still no sign of Train.

Kyoko had left somewhere around ten thirty, claiming that she would get in trouble if she didn't go back to the dorm soon. Apart from her part time sweeping job, the pyro was also pursuing her studies and was currently in college. She had promised to let them know if she spotted Train on her way.

But the ex-assassin had just vanished into thin air. Sven knew he could take care of himself but he was still worried for his partner. He couldn't help it. It was just that Train never acted his age, except for when he was angry, so it was kind of hard not to worry.

"Don't worry, he'll show up." Annette said gruffly as she collected his empty cup.

"You believe their story?" Sven asked her, training his eyes on the red-eyed man who had talked to him in the park, Kurogane. He was currently throttling a white plushy which was actually not a plushy at all.

"Even if it does seem too far-fetched," the blond sighed, "I can't help but wonder."

Sven himself had decided to reserve his judgment for now. He had seen some strange thing in all his years of sweeping, which included his encounters with the Apostles of Stars, the Zero numbers and Eden. Dimension travel might seem a bit of a long shot but it was a possibility he was forced to consider.

Those foreigners were a strange lot. The red-eyed man was a ninja of some ancient Japanese kingdom. Sven could tell that the guy was loyal to his friends and cared about them deeply. Enough to lay down his own life for them. Or well, one of his arms at least.

That blond. He was part-magician, part-vampire. He acted in very happy-go lucky manner which reminded him, a lot, about Train. There was this strange deadly air about him, like the Black Cat, so Sven knew that he could be serious when he wanted to. And he was dangerous.

And then there was the boy. he was unsure of what it was that the boy used to do before the start of their journey across the dimensions but the look in his brown eyes reminded Sven of someone who had seen a lot of troubled times. And the way he walked, it was like he had some sort of heavy burden on his shoulders.

All three of them, they all reminded him of Train.

The ninja was protective, the blond was deadly and loyal and the boy, he was determined. Those were the qualities that Train possessed as well.

But why exactly was he comparing them and Train?

He watched Annette approach the group. She exchanged a few words with the blond and the boy. The ninja had apparently chosen to let them do the talking. After a while, she nodded and motioned for them to follow her.

Near the stairs that led to the spare guest bed in the bar, she turned to me.

"I'll get the other room set up for you. You can wait here for him if you want."

I nodded to her, silently telling her of my gratitude before resuming my silent wait.

Thunder rolled overhead, hailing the oncoming storm.

"Train, you better get back in one piece." I muttered under my breath as I got up and took up the place that group of foreigners had been occupying previously.

-0-


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: sorry for the really long wait guys. But I kind of got lost on the road of life and then I met this old lady who… Um, yeah. I have resorted to quoting Kakashi because my actual excuse wuld be my usual one. Two words. **_

_**Real Life.**_

_**Yeah well, I'm here now, so please, without further ado, go ahead an indulge yourselves.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

"_You will no longer be able to see, hear or feel her around you." Yuuko explained, "As for Saya, she will have to accompany you on this journey and once you are finished, she will move on."_

"_I-I… I will n…"_

"_I will pay the price." _

Saya cut Train off before he could refuse the witch.

"No, Saya, we'll find some other way," The ex-assassin protested but the ghost of his friend merely gave him a sad smile.

"We both need to save her Train-kun," the apparition of the sweeper spoke somberly. "It might be too late for that if we start looking for alternatives."

"But Saya, do you even realize what that witch is _asking_?"

"I do," the ghost answered.

"And you're okay with that?" He asked with an incredulous expression.

"I have to move on sooner or later Train-kun," she sighed turning her green eyes back to stare at Yuuko.

"So what will it be Train?" the witch asked, not unkindly.

"You swear I'll be able to get to princess this way?" he asked, meeting her wine-eyed gaze with his own cold one.

"Mokona will take you to where Eve is being held captive. The rest will be up to you."

"If that mutated rabbit is just some sort of joke," Train said in a calm and calculated voice, making no real effort to try and keep the threatening tone out of it. "Rest assured that I _will_ come back."

"Very well then. I accept your payments." Yuuko waved her hand in the air, appearing as though she had not heard what Train had implied. A tingling sensation that started at the base of Train's neck, travelled down his spine before vanishing abruptly.

"Huh?" he looked around in confusion noticing that Saya had disappeared from his side.

"You should head back now," Yuuko suggested gently as she turned around and left the room through a pair of rice-paper doors.

"Saya…" the ex-assassin whispered softly as he stared at the spot where the ghost had been just seconds before. But there was nothing there anymore.

-0-

A young man with round spectacles perched on his nose and his long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail sitting at the base of his neck walked into the room. There was a wild gleam in his eyes as he observed Eve. The girl was currently slumped against the glass wall of her prison, watching him with angry, cherry colored orbs. Her scowl deepened as the man stepped closer. She recognized the look on his face. It was the same look that that Tao using doctor had had when he had captured her.

"Amazing," he breathed, "the perfect living weapon. Just amazing."

A pang of fear struck her heart as Eve watched his retreating back. The man was humming pleasantly as he walked away but Eve knew that there was nothing pleasant about this man. He reminded her of Doctor and if this man was anything like the former, Eve was in so much trouble.

"Sven, Train, where are you guys?" she whispered softly as her eyes once again roamed the room outside her glass cell and landed on the container that held the unconscious auburn haired girl.

-0-

"Damn it Train! Where the hell have you been?" Sven exclaimed, as soon as the sweeper walked in through the door.

"…" the young man did not reply, as he merely dumped his wet jacket on a wooden table and walked behind the counter of Annette's bar. Pulling open the door to the small fridge placed there, he pulled out a bottle of milk, heading over to the table where his jacket was dripping droplets of water with soft plats on the floor. Wordlessly he slumped down in a chair. Instead of opening the bottle to consume the white liquid inside, he merely stared at it.

The former IBI agent took in his appearance. The legendary Black Cat was soaked from head to toe, his mop of unruly chocolate brown hair plastered to his head, sharply contrasting with deathly pale skin, his normally vibrant golden eyes had dulled to a glazed amber. The expression on his face was one Sven had never witnessed before.

"Train?" Sven asked a bit hesitantly, when the ex-assassin made no indication of having noticed his presence.

"Oye, Train," he tried to get his attention once again, with little success.

The sweeper kept staring at the glass container in his hands, a small frown forming on his face. To Sven it seemed the more his friend stared at the bottle, the angrier he became until…

The glass shattered to millions of liquid covered shards with Train not even noticing it as crimson bled into the white turning it into a pale pink. The tiny pieces of the broken bottle glittered in the light cast by the fluorescent bulb overhead as the number thirteen clenched his fists before him, digging the pieces of glass deeper into his flesh.

"Train!" Sven rushed to his friend's side, quickly prying his hands open as he tried to remove the pieces before they could do any further harm. Train watched him work on his hands in a trance like state while Sven tried to berate him for being so careless.

"I can't feel her anymore," the whispered words of his younger friend made Sven freeze in his ministrations. Wide-eyed, the green-haired clairvoyant looked at Train.

Without another word, Train climbed back to his feet, turning his back to his partner's horrified gaze as he walked towards the stairs that led to the spare guestrooms on the upper floor of the bar. He stopped near the bottom stair, his injured hand resting on the guardrail as he kept his back to Sven.

"But I'll bring her back Sven." He promised in a voice barely above a whisper. "I swear I will." With that he was gone, the only evidence of him having been there was the mess on the table next his jacket consisting of shards of a broken glass bottle with pink colored milk mixing with the pool of water on the tiled floor and the blood stained in the shape of a hand on the wooden rail.

-0-

The next morning, by the time Sven came down for breakfast, the group of dimension travelers was already seated at one of the tables. The young brunette, Syaoran was discussing something with the stoic raven-haired man, Kurogane. Their white, bejeweled pet rabbit was happily gulping down food from the latter's plate but the ninja's demeanor did not show any outward annoyance at that, that is until the bulging vein on his forehead gave him away. The blond, named Fai was chattering away and helping Annette with the breakfast. Sven did a double take, Annette was cooking breakfast!

What was the world coming to?

Sven looked around once more only to find that there was one person missing. The ex-Chronos number.

"Morning Annette, has Train come down yet?" the self-proclaimed gentleman greeted the bar owner as he settled down on a stool next to the counter.

"No," the forty year old answered gruffly as she exhaled another puff of smoke from her cigarette.

Sven refrained from sighing before turning his attention back on the group of travelers.

"How long are you guys gonna stay here?" he asked them in general.

Before anyone could answer him however, Train entered the room. Sven glanced at his friend as he took a drag from his cigarette before looking back at the newspaper, but a split second later he was gaping at the younger male, the half smoked cigarette falling to the ground in the process.

The Black Cat was dressed completely in black, with no sign of his usual padded blue jacket or the little golden bell that he always wore around his neck, the ensemble he wore was something out of his Chronos days. Dark grey shirt, dark jeans and a black long coat, though he still had Hades strapped to his thigh.

"I'm going sweeping," he told the clairvoyant as he swept past him, his demeanor not quite gloomy but nowhere near his usual happy-go-lucky idiotic attitude either. His aura was more of a don't-mess-with-me-if-you-want-to-live sort.

"Alone?" Sven found his voice quite quickly.

"Yes." Was all the answer he got as the door swung shut behind the man's back.

-0-

_**A/N: How long is the gang planning on staying in this world? Is Train reverting to his former Chronos-self? And what do Eve's kidnappers want with her? How will Sven react when he finds out about Train's decision to go dimension travelling to find the clairvoyant's adoptive daughter?**_

_**Share your thoughts with me and I shall update faster since they inspire me to write more. ;) ;)**_

_**Now a little bit of shameless advertising.**_

_**If you liked this crossover, go check out my other two crossover fics, first is another TRC/Black Cat fic while the other happens to bring together the worlds of Treasure Planet and TRC. **_

_**Oh and feel free to read any other works of mine, the details of which can be found on my profile. One of which is my laest TRC fic, "Shattered Secrets". I'd really appreciate feedback on all of these fics so pretty please check them out.**_

_**And Review!**_

_**Until next time.**_

_**-Nims.**_

_**PS. Leave me five reviews and I shall put up the next chapter which is all written out btw.**_


	9. Chapter 9

That man was back and Eve did not like the cold tingling sensation that raced down her spine as soon as his gaze fell on her. Beside the man stood the brunette responsible for her being there in the first place, watching her with the same, cold, emotionless gaze that he had whenever she had seen him.

"Detain her, will you?" the bespectacled man ordered carelessly. Obediently, the boy with mismatched eyes raised his hand and a stream of blue colored runes emerged from his outstretched forefingers.

"No!" Eve was on her feet in a less than a blink of an eye, her hands transforming into a shield with a flash of blue light.

But the runes still came, wrapping around her, passing through that unbreakable glass like it wasn't even there. The unintelligible symbols snaked across her skin, an excruciating pain exploding through her transformed limbs forcing them back to their original shape as her body became paralyzed.

"Incredible." The doctor-look-alike's grin grew wider as he pressed his palm against the glass tube around her which slowly melted away. "You truly _are_ an amazing creation." He said as his pale hand caressed her cheek even as she struggled against this foreign energy that was holding her in place and keeping her from pounding this guy in his face. "I wonder what else you are capable of." He dark eyes held her cherry-colored gaze as he picked her up.

"Let's see if we can return you to the way you were truly meant to be."

Eve had been scared plenty of times in her life before, not that she would ever admit it but she had been scared when Sven had taken the bullet meant for Train. She had been scared Sven had spoken of sending her away to a school. She had been scared when those Chronos numbers had gotten too close to capturing her. But never in her life before had she been as scared as she was right now.

She struggled harder against her rune-like bonds. She had to get away from here. She… she couldn't go back to being that way. No. She was a _human_ being. Not a weapon. She could not let him turn her back into one. The one that could not even recognize her own adoptive father.

She had to get away. But her body refused to obey her commands all the same. She remained limp in the doctor-look-alike's arms as the guy stepped out of her container and moved towards the large wooden door with the bat carving on it. The emotionless boy trailed behind them, silently.

A single tear managed to leak past her clenched eyes as she felt herself getting strapped onto a cold metallic platform.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright." He patted her face in a comforting manner using the type of voice that might fool almost all the onlookers into believing that he was actually someone who meant her no harm.

-0-

"Hyuu," Fai fake whistled as he, Syaoran and Kurogane finally caught up with the Black Cat. Or rather, as they observed him fight the gang of criminals all by himself. "He's almost as good as Kuro-puu, won't you agree Syaoran?"

"He _is_ quite skilled." The brunette agreed as they watched him from afar.

"Tch," was all the response the ninja clad in black gave but he had to admit, this guy was an impressive fighter. Despite his immense anger and rage, all his moves were precise and his marksmanship was unparalleled. He knew Fai was good but bounty hunter was better.

With an enraged cry, Train's threw his leg in a wide arc; easily hitting his would be assailant on the head, instantaneously knocking him out. The remaining four out of the original twelve gangsters whipped out their guns, one of them carrying a mini-machine gun, aiming them at the deadly ex-assassin, letting loose a volley of shots before he even had a chance to move. A torrent of dust kicked up from where all the stray shots landed, obscuring him from view completely.

"Is he dead?" one of the gangster, a guy in his mid twenties questioned hesitantly.

"Are you kiddin' me?" the one who had the machine gun exclaimed. "Not even the devil could have survived that!"

"H-hey…" the third one spoke in a somewhat scared voice. "Where is the body?" he asked as the dust settled.

"What the…" the fourth narrowed his eyes, noticing that the pockmarked ground before them was indeed, lacking the bullet ridden body of a certain black clad sweeper.

"I've come to bring you," a calm yet cold voice spoke next to his ear, making him whirl around in alarm only to note his remaining companions unconscious on the ground, "Bad Luck."

Wham!

And his world was consumed by darkness.

"Wow! Train is soo cool!" Mokona gushed from its perch atop Kurogane's head.

For the briefest of moments, the ex-assassins cat-like eyes flitted in their direction before he had whirled around, pulling out his black cellphone as he punched in a couple of keys before putting the device to his ear.

Fifteen minutes later, the police had arrived to arrest the criminals the lone sweeper had single handedly brought down.

"My partner will come by later to collect the bounty," he told the officer as he turned on his heels and walked down the deserted streets.

"He's almost as fast as Fai," Mokona spoke as it watched the retreating figure of the infamous Black Cat before it turned around in an alleyway and vanished from sight.

"Say, Kuro-tan," Fai asked with a sidelong glance in his companion's direction "Do you think he'd be able to beat you?"

"I doubt it." The ninja snorted as he too turned his back towards his friends and began descending the stairs that led to out to streets below. Fai had chosen the rooftop of that abandoned building stating it gave the best view.

-0-

"When exactly will your rabbit be ready to leave?" Train had jumped next to Kurogane who at that time was walking alone. Fai and Syaoran had decided to go explore the city some more, taking Mokona along with them but luckily they were still somewhere nearby since he could understand what the amber-eyed man was saying.

"No idea." He shrugged in response as he brushed past the sweeper.

"What kind of an answer is that?" he snarled.

"The one I just gave you." Kurogane responded carelessly. "By the way, your friend isn't the only one who was taken captive by those bastards so you're not the only one who is worried."

"Bullshit!" Train slammed his fist into the wall next to him. "Don't fucking tell me what to feel!"

"I never said I was." The ninja's calm tone seemed to enrage the ex-assassin only further as the red-eyed man continued walking. A bullet whizzed past the ninja's head, missing only by a hair's breadth as it embedded in the wall of a general store.

Kurogane stopped walking, "I'm just saying, don't act like an idiot. You're worrying that seer friend of yours."

And then he was gone, leaving the Ex-Chronos assassin standing there, frozen in shock with his gun still raised in the air.

-0-

_**A/N: So what do you think?**_

_**I wonder who would win if Train **_**were **_**to fight against Kurogane. In fact, I was going to have the two fight here at the end, but then I decided against it cause I couldn't decide on the outcome. But I'd still like to know what you guys think. Who would win if they fought?**_

_**Oh and Kyoko might end up going with the gang as well. But I can't decide on her price. It can't be her pyrokinesis since I need her to have it later on. So I'm open to suggestions.**_

_**And what do you think will happen to Eve? Will she turn into a mindless weapon like Cloney or will she be able to resist the effects of whatever spells Kyle might use. Vote in favor of her turning into a weapon or against it. I'm leaving it up to you guys to decide that (for now).**_

_**Please vote via reviews since I'm too lazy to put up a poll on my profile. Also leave you opinions about Kyoko's price using the same means. Or I guess you could PM me too. Either way is fine.**_

_**That is all.**_

_**-Nims**_

_**PS. Check out my latest TRC fic, "Shattered Secrets". I'd really appreciate feedback on that one.**_


	10. Chapter 10

"Sven," Train spoke quietly as he walked up to the lime-haired man.

"You're back." His friend let out a rush of breath that the ex-assassin easily identified as a sigh of relief. That red-eyed ninja had been correct. He _had_ been worrying Sven. Well… It would be for the best if he informed his friend about what he planned to do before he found out through some other means. "A police officer called, telling me to collect the bounty." Sven started in a casual tone, but Train knew his friend was still worried about him, "Did you capture a bounty or something?"

"Twelve." He responded in the same quiet tone, unable to find the energy to say anything else. The simple realization that he may never be able to see Saya again, despite the fact that she had been dead for quite some time was taking its toll on him. Giving up the ability to sense her comforting presence around him made him feel like she had died all over again.

But he knew that giving up that simple sense was a whole lot better than actually having to forget her, like that witch had mentioned his initial price to be. Had it not been for Saya's willingness to share his price, he would have forgotten her altogether.

And then where would he have been? Everything he was today was because of her. If he had forgotten her completely, would he have turned back to his ruthless old self? That coldblooded killer? Would he have perhaps abandoned Sven and Eve when they needed him the most?

Train closed his eyes, gritting his teeth to keep his emotions in check.

"Train…" the former IBI agent started only to be cut off by his friend, "I'm leaving with them."

_I won't let Saya's sacrifice be in vain._

"What?"

"Those dimension travelers…" He said tonelessly. He let himself become numb. It was easier to ignore the pain this way. "I'm going to look for Eve with them."

"Like hell you are!" Sven yelled angrily, grabbing Train by his shirt's collar as he glared at him. "Have you gone crazy?"

"Sven..." Train sighed, not in the least bit phased by his friend's sudden temper. This numb feeling was good. It served as a good shield for him. "I need to find her."

"And you think I don't?" The other man's gaze hardened.

"..." Train chose not to reply, looking away to avoid meeting his stare. Damn him. The emotions clearly playing across Sven's face were going to crumble that feeble protective cocoon Train had tried to hide himself in. He knew he would break down if he looked at his friend any longer. But he needed Sven to understand. He was doing this for their sakes. Could he not see that?

After almost a minute had gone by, he sighed, shaking his head. "I'm not saying you don't but..." Even now, he could feel the emotions crawling back up, clawing their way back into his heart.

"But what?" Sven pressed on when the former Black Cat trailed off, "What reason could you possibly have that I don't, to make such a foolish decision?"

"…" not now. Please. He could not afford to break down now. He had to stay strong for them. Princess was depending on him. Unknowingly, even Sven was depending on him. If he broke down now…

"We don't even know for sure if what these people are saying is the truth." Sven said quietly as he let go of Train, stepping back to regard him.

"I had a talk with Yuuko." Was all Train said in reply as though it explained everything. It _should_ explain everything. He had, after all, heard those dimension traveler's stories, had he not? Sven ought to be smart enough to realize what Train meant.

"You're going to have to give me a better explanation than that." Sven's frosty tone however told the ex-assassin that clearly his answer had no explained anything. "Of course, if that's all it was…" as the clairvoyant continued, Train felt fear clench his heart and a painful knot form in his gut. He silently prayed for his friend to not say what he knew he might say. However, Sven's next words were proof that his prayers were not answered.

"Maybe I'll go have a _talk_ with her myself." The shield of numbness cracked and shattered into millions of tiny pieces, leaving Train vulnerable to the raging emotions he had been trying to keep in check. There was sorrow. There was worry. But above all there was fear and anger. Fear that Sven would unwittingly subject himself to something he did not deserve and anger that _he_ the world's most feared assassin had failed to protect another person he had cherished.

"You will do no such thing." Train growled, whipping his head around all of a sudden, fixing his fierce predatory glare on a shocked Sven. "You're going to stay as far away from her as you can."

"Why should I?" The former IBI agent narrowed his eyes defiantly as he overcame his astonishment and closely observed the amber-eyed male for his reaction, "If she can give me a chance to get Eve back here safe and sound, why shouldn't I ask her for it?"

Yugh! Why was he making this harder than it already was?

"That's what I'm doing," Train spoke though gritted teeth.

"So?" Train could tell that Sven was beyond irritated. But he didn't care. He was _not_ going to let him suffer a fate similar to everyone else who had encountered that witch. "Why the heck are you so insistent on me not helping?"

"Why the fuck don't you understand, damn it?" Train's hiss startled the lime haired man as he found himself in the same position the Black Cat had been moments before. "_Stay here._ Is that too much to ask? Or do you _want_ to lose whatever you hold precious, huh? Tell me? Do you?" knowing he could not hit the other man, Train settled for shaking him harshly as he demanded an answer for his next question. "Are you willing to pay a price like that brown-haired brat?"

Train ignored the dumbstruck look on his face as he tried not to break down in front of him. Why the heck could he not make him understand? His body shook as he tried to reel in his raging emotions. "Do you think you can bear it if you got the princess back only to have her forget what you mean to her?"

When Sven did not answer him, Train let go of him, wordlessly turning on his heels as he picked up his discarded jacket. He had to get out of here. He could not stand the look of immense hurt and disbelief that had suddenly become visible on Sven's face. And he most certainly could not stand the look of pity that had flashed in his companion's eyes. Without another thought, he walked right back outside the jingling bell being the only evidence that he had exited the shop since a couple of seconds later, he himself had disappeared from Sven's sight.

-0-

It took several minutes for Sven to bring himself out of that stupor as he heard a pair of quiet footsteps approach him. Turning around he noticed it was amber-eyed boy, Syaoran.

"How much of that did you hear?" he asked in a quiet but stern tone that he rarely used. The boy did no fidget under his single eyed stare as any other teenager might who had just been caught eavesdropping in on a private conversation but he still had the decency to apologize.

"Everything," he answered, meeting his stare with an intense amber-eyed stare of his own. "Forgive me for overhearing and speaking where it is clearly not my place but… I think Train-san might be right in asking you to stay behind."

"Eve is very important to me too, you know," he said solemnly.

"All the more reason for you to… I'm not saying any of us will stop you from coming with us but you should know, the price Yuuko-san asks for in return for allowing us to use Mokona is our most precious possession."

A soft sigh escaped his lips as he looked outside the window before reaching inside his coat pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. Putting one in his mouth, he lit its end and took a drag before breathing out the smoke. He could feel a headache coming along.

"My most precious belonging, huh?" he chuckled darkly, shaking his head as he settled on a stool next to the counter. Without any hesitation, Syaoran sat down on the next one.

Closing his eyes, Sven took in another drag. "My most precious belonging…" he repeated, letting the words sink in. he thought back to the look on Train's face when he had suggested going to Yuuko for help. It had not just been anger there. No. Train was terrified. Panicked even. And for as long as Sven had known that man, Train had never panicked. Grow alarmed? Yes. Panicked or terrified? Never.

"Train," his pale face flashed before the sweeper's closed eyes, the immense pain etched across his features. "You idiot…"

_What did you give up for our sakes?_

There had been so much pain in his eyes.

Minutes ticked away into hours but Train did not return. Still feeling worried about the chocolate-haired ex-assassin, decided that if he was getting so many calls from the police station to collect the reward money for several major targets, his friend was just out there to let off some steam.

During the time it took Train to calm down and return to the small bar, Sven had several hours to think and in the end he decided to do what his normally cheerful companion asked of him. This was obviously important to Number XIII and after having lost something he had cherished above all else, Sven decided to let him have him have this. 'The peace of mind that someone he cared about would not have to suffer in the same manner as him.'

He wanted to be there for Eve, more than anything else, but like Train had pointed out, what if the witch asked for Eve's memories of him? He was a strong man, sure. But even _he_ could not bear the pain of that price. Feeling like an extremely selfish coward, both traits very unbecoming of a gentleman- self proclaimed or not- in the end, Sven decided that perhaps letting the Black Cat go alone might be better.

He was still sitting on the stool next to the counter, when Train returned near midnight though the chestnut-haired sweeper ignored him completely brushing past him to climb the stairs leading to his temporary bedroom.

"Train…" he addressed the man, making him freeze halfway up the stairs, though just like he had the previous night he did not turn around to face him. "You better get back in one piece or else…" he let his threat hang in the air but from the slight relaxing of Train's tensed shoulders, he knew that the other man was relieved at not having to argue with him. "…If you take too long in coming back or anything happens to either of you, don't think I will hesitate in going to Yuuko. No matter what world you will be in, I'll kick your ass to hell and back, you hear me?"

"Sven," Train looked over his shoulder at the man sitting below, "Thanks." The gratitude filled in that single word was enough to halt Sven in mid-rant. By the time he came back to his senses, Train was safely behind the closed door of his room.

-0-

It was early next morning that Yuuko contacted the group of dimension travelers to inform them about the newest addition to their group. Having already heard the news about the increase in their number from Syaoran, none of the travelers expressed any surprise and Sven seemed pretty calm about it too.

After breakfast, just as Sven made up his mind to head over to the police station to collect the reward money, Mokona hopped into the room informing everyone that it was time to leave. Train had trailed down the stairs with a simple traveler's bag slung over his shoulders only a short while later, avoiding Sven's gaze as they headed outside in towards the backyard.

"Oye Train," Sven called out just as the white, long eared creature hopped into the air and fluffy, white, angelic wings exploded out of back. Those wings reminded him painfully of Eve. Her trans abilities allowed her to create wings identical to Mokona's. "You better come back, you hear me?"

A soft smile touched the sweeper's lips as he gave him a nod before his body was dissolved into multi-colored smoke and sucked into the mouth of the bejeweled rabbit along with the other travelers before the creature itself popped out of existence.

The wind rustled the leaves in the trees and Sven found himself shaking his head next to Annette. "Stubborn idiot…" he muttered with a quiet chuckle, lighting up a cigarette as he placed it in his mouth and inhaled. Exhaling heavily, he raised his head to look up at the lazy clouds floating above their heads, his single-eye crinkling up against the sun's brightness as he watched.

"Stay safe… both of you."

-0-

In a distant dimension, a cherry-eyed girl let out an anguished scream as her lithe body thrashed against her restraints, blue magical runes keeping her from transforming into something that could allow her to escape.

The bespectacled man, gleefully observing her, picked up a notepad to write down his observations. Next to him, a chestnut haired boy with mismatched eyes watched apathetically as the dark magic began to work its way into the girl's system and she let out an even louder scream.

_**A/N: and I'm back with another chapter for you all. What do you think? Was it any good? Did you like it? Hate? Don't know what to think of it? You know how to let me know. Just go ahead and click on that pretty little magical button that frees Eve and lets her go kick Kyle's ass. ;) ;) you know you want to.**_

_**I hope I didn't make anyone act too OOC. **_

_**So in the end I decided against letting Kyoko come along, simply because I could not work her into the plot. Plus, apart from a couple of reviewers no one ever bothered to help me figure out an appropriate price for her so yeah. She not going. The next world they go to, what do you think it will be? Clow? One of the previous worlds? Or an entirely new world? Who is brave enough to dare and guess what I might be planning next?**_

_**Pretty please, let me know. **_

_**-Nims**_

_**PS. I just remembered, I'm putting up a poll on my profile about who you guys think would win in a fight between Kuro-toffee popcorn and Train. Please vote for the one you think would be stronger.**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: and so after a really really really long gap I have finally managed to write something for this fic. I'd apologize and give long explanations for why I didn't update sooner but I'm quite sure you'd all rather read the story than hear my excuse (which is the same as last time and the time before that and the one before that. 'Real life' people!)**_

_**Now without further ado, enjoy!**_

_There was nothing but darkness all around him. Suppressing the feeling of unease as he felt something amiss, Train strained his eyes to look around him. A cool wind played with his hair as the darkness began to shimmer and transform into a very familiar scene. He was lying on his back on top of the roof of his old flat._

_The moon was full in the sky, a lone cloud unsuccessfully trying to block its silvery rays from reaching the earth. A cool breeze played with his hair, brushing the nape of his neck like the silent whispers of a ghost._

_Blinking a couple of times as the feeling of wrongness, that feeling of emptiness increased, Train sat up. Next to him, were two bottles of milk. One empty and the other full, untouched._

_The cold wind tickled his skin again as he stared at the unopened bottle. He heard the quiet echo of a phantom giggle. It was a soft beautiful sound like the tinkling of bells on a clear, sunny spring morning. But it so quiet, so soft, it was almost like he had imagined it. Like the actual source of that sound was no longer there but his mind due to the simple fact that it was used to its presence was now making up for the lack of it by making him think that it was there._

_Eyes widening, he whipped his head around. There it was again._

_The whispered shadow of a bemused laugh. _

"_Saya…" he whispered, looking around desperately trying to spot the source of that sound. He had to see her. Just one more time. He needed to see her. The wind began to die down, taking with it his memory of the sound of her laughter. "No, wait." he gasped, his breathing growing shallow as fear clenched its ice-cold hands around his heart, clenching painfully. "S-Saya please. Wait... SAYA!"_

"_Train-kun…" he heard her respond sadly, so quietly, he could almost not hear her. "Train-kun."_

_Something warm touched his shoulder, gently shaking him._

"_Train-kun?"_

Blinking a couple of times, Train opened his eyes, only to find the blond who claimed to be a vampire, bent over him. The other was looking at him worriedly though he could spot sadness and pity in that lone blue orb as it observed him.

"Are we there?" he inquired in a tone that betrayed no emotion. He thought it was funny that he was already slipping back into his old persona. It had not even been three days yet and he was already reverting back to the cold, emotionless personality of the world's most feared assassin. The Chronos pet worthy of the title of Black Cat.

"No," the other man replied with a shake of his head, "the time is still not right for us to enter that dimension."

Growling in his throat, Train climbed to his feet, realizing that he had previously been lying on his back. Had he passed out?

"You get used to it after a couple of times," the blond offered, in an attempt to strike up a conversation but in all honestly, Train just could not bring himself to care for these three strangers that fate had forced him into travelling with. "We were all knocked out cold the first time Mokona took us to Hanshin Republic."

Looking around he noticed that they were currently in an inn of sorts though the place had a medieval sort of feel to it. There were no electric fixtures in the place for one. The room he was in had one other bed, a small fireplace and a couple of caned chairs. There were no mirrors in the room and the window to his right lacked a glass pane. It overlooked what appeared to be a village square. Climbing to his feet, Train headed over in that direction to get a better look.

"We're in Reamont," Fai chirped lightly for his benefit, "I managed to get us two rooms in this inn. But seeing as we're not natives, I think they overcharged us for them. Kuro-tan and Syaoran-kun have gone to the market to get us some clothes so that we don't stick out as much. Mokona went along for the ride as well."

"When will we get to wherever those bastards took Eve?" he asked quietly.

"Hm?" Fai cocked his head to one side, his eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the ex-assassin before letting out a small laugh, "You gotta loosen up a little bit Train-kun. Acting all tough and melodramatic isn't going to make anyone like you, you know."

"I didn't come along with you three to make friends." He hissed in response, irritated that the blond had refused to answer his question.

As though sensing his annoyance, Fai began speaking again, that smile not leaving his face despite the fact that Train was not exactly being polite in the least bit.

"We'll probably move to the next world after we retrieve Sakura-chan's memory from this world." He said as he sat down at the edge of the bed across from the one Train had been laying on earlier, "Mokona says it's somewhere nearby so hopefully it won't take too long."

"I paid that damned witch my price so that I could save _Princess_." Train clenched his fists to keep himself from hitting something. "Wandering around in this world looking for some stupid feathers is not going to help me accomplish that. For all I know, those bastards could have already… argh!" Losing control of his raging emotions, he punched the wall next to the window, the force of the blow causing the wall to shake and dust to rain down from the thatched roof.

"We're back!" Mokona announced cheerfully before Fai could respond to what Train had just said.

"Welcome back, Syaoran-kun, Moko-chan." He smiled instead, moving to the pair that had just arrived. The bejeweled dimension hopper was perched atop Syaoran's shoulder. The teen was holding onto a small bundle but before he could show them the contents of the package, Train had walked past the brunette, the long coat fluttering behind him as he raced down the dingy stairs to reach the landing. The raucous laughter that filled up the atmosphere of the smelly bar downstairs silenced for a while, heads turning to observe the newcomer. Train scowled at the curious faces, hastily walking out of the rickety swinging doors into the sun.

"Did we miss something?" Syaoran asked, his eyes trained on the door their group's newest addition had just stormed out of.

"Nothing special." Fai said with a wave of his hand, "So are these the clothes?"

-0-

It was almost sundown in the little town of Reamount. Even though it had already been a week since the travelers had arrived in that town, people still cast suspicious glances in their direction as they passed by. This suspicion was not only brought on by the fact that these strangers had arrived in the middle of a bustling marketplace on an unholy day in a brilliant flash of light with an unconscious companion. The reason why the hostility displayed towards the travelers had yet to go down was also due to the fact that every three days, one of the able-bodied men were taken from their midst, never to be heard of again. Stories of a cursed siren were being told in every corner of the town to warn the young ones and the foolish brave ones alike. It was said that the siren was a cunning shape-shifter, able to see into the hearts of men to know what they desired the most. She would put a spell on her victims and lure them out to her cave in the middle of nowhere where she would proceed to devour their flesh for three days straight before coming back in search for a new victim. The siren had been thought to have been put to rest by the elders of the town centuries ago when the place was naught but a small settlement.

His companions seemed to think it was the princess's feather that had caused the siren to reawaken but Train found it hard to believe. After all magical or not… no feather in the world was _magical_ enough to bring a creature like that to life. But he had agreed to help them in their useless search, if only to move things along faster so that he could rescue Princess and head back home.

Heaving a sigh, Train jumped off of his perch on one of the roofs in the rather secluded part of town, making his way back to the inn. That day's search had not really yielded any results and the prospect of them finding anything worthwhile the next day wasn't very good either. Stuffing his hands in the pockets of his pants, he started making his way back to the inn wondering what the heck he was going to do now. That meat bun could contact the witch, couldn't it? So maybe he should have a little chat with that swindler about how he wasn't where he had paid her to be. Maybe he could get Yuuko to send him to wherever Eve was, before the others. He would sneak in, grab Eve and get out of there without this supposedly dangerous bad guy even knowing her was there.

Having a plan in his mind, Train felt a bit better, knowing exactly what he was going to do once he got- despite being lost in thought, Train's fast reflexes kicked in and made him jump out of the way as a brunette rushed past him. A group of drunken men staggered past him, jeering and making catcalls after the woman that had just raced by. Train felt his blood freeze inside his veins as he recalled the brunette's face. Not knowing how it was possible after all that the witch had told him, but not really caring about it either, Train turned on his heels and followed after the brunette and the gang of drunkards.

"N-no… Please!" the woman cried as she pressed herself against the wall, seemingly shrinking in on herself in fear as the leering men advanced towards her.

"You should have known better than to leave your house unaccompanied wench." One man laughed as he grabbed hold of her shoulder length hair, dragging her towards his buddies.

"No! Let me go!"

The men only laughed louder as the woman screamed again. But their laughter was cut short as something hit them faster than light, causing them all to land in a crumpled mess on the ground around the brunette.

"Are you okay?" Train helped the woman to her feet, his breath catching in his throat as a soft jade met his gaze.

"T-Train-kun?"

-0-

"Fai-san… Did Train-san come back last night?"

"Hmm? No, I don't think so Syaoran-kun." The mage shook his head, frowning a little as he took in the appearance of the man trailing behind the brunette as the boy stepped into the room Fai had been sharing with the ex-assassin.

"I'm afraid your friend is in grave danger in that case."

"Who's your friend, Syaoran-kun?"

"Umm… This is Diskenth-san."

"Please, call me Creed." The man smiled sharply as he offered his hand to the vampire hybrid for a shake.

"Fai," the blond shook the proffered hand, not even flinching at the way the other man tried to crush his hand. That is until Fai put a little pressure back, grinning easily as he did so. The man seemed to have found something he was looking for in the blond since his smile turned genuine the next second as he took his hand back.

"Pretty impressive grip you have there."

"Yours as well." He nodded, motioning for the man to take the unoccupied bed as his seat for the time they spoke. "So why is it that you think Train-kun might be in trouble?" he inquired politely.

"I am in charge of this village's security and the safety of everyone that dwells within its limits." The man, Creed Diskenth, told them, "that includes the merchants and travelers while they are here. Members of the guard under my command are posted all over the village and last night they saw your friend leave the premises of the village with a woman."

"A woman?" Fai quirked a brow.

"We suspect she's managed to lure him to her cave."

-0-

"Creed Diskenth," Saya said softly as he tucked her long hair behind her ears, "he's after me again."

"Wait… What?" Train frowned, "Why would Creed be after you? He's recovering from paralysis on an island with Echidna."

"I don't know. I came here after the attack, because he told me he'd kill you if I didn't leave you alone…" Saya admitted softly as she lit incense candles around the cave, a sweet yet slightly pungent scent immediately filling up the atmosphere, "But I had no idea he had his people after me all the time. They spread rumors about me… rumors saying that I'm the siren. And I'm luring all the men to their deaths."

"I've heard about that around town." The ex-assassin nodded, feeling the smoke oddly relaxing for some reason, taking out the tension from his shoulders as his muscles loosened on their own.

"You have to believe me Train-kun…" Saya pleaded, as she caught hold of his shoulders, looking desperately into his eyes, "It's not me. Creed is having me framed so that they have enough reason to want to get rid of me. And…" she bit her lip, looking away as she let go.

"And?"

Saya merely lowered her gaze to stare at the ground as she rubbed her arms in discomfort.

"Saya… What is it?"

"I-I… I think he might coerce your companions into joining him."

"…"

"He'll convince them that I have some otherworldly artifact or something and that I won't give it up without trying to kill them." She looked back at him, tears welling up in her eyes, "the truth is Train-kun, he has had it with him all along. He is the one causing all these disappearances. And he's putting the blame on me, knowing no one will believe me because I'm a helpless woman."

"I can go back and talk to the villagers." Train made to walk towards the exit to the cave when he found his way getting blocked by the brunette.

"No!" she cried, catching his arm and dragging him back, "Please. Don't leave me alone here. Some of the men must have seen you leave with me. They'll all think I've put a spell on you to make you believe me. Please," she buried her face into his chest, "don't leave me alone. I'm just…" she looked up at him, "I'm so scared."

"Saya, trust me," He told her reassuringly, as he made towards the exit again, only to be stopped by her once more. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"Train-kun…" Train was shocked by what happened next as the jade-eyed sweeper kissed him full on the lips leading him back as she pressed against him almost desperately, a cold chill beginning to spread through his whole body as she looked at him, pushing him down on the furs that served as the bedroll on the ground, "Please. Don't leave me again." Train found his mind growing almost hazy for a second before her face came back into focus and Train knew what he had to do.

"Don't worry, Saya," he looked up at the woman, his eyes unknowingly shifting into their signature catlike slits, "I won't leave you again. I won't let any harm come to you. I'll protect you with ever my dying breath."

"Thank you so much Train-kun," Saya smiled softly as she came closer and closer to him, "that's all I needed to hear."

_**A/N: Okay, so can anyone guess what happening here and what might be in store for both parties in the next chapter?**_


End file.
